All Is Fair In Love & War
by NattyMcTasha
Summary: “Is everything a weapon to you two?” Peyton interrupted as she watched the boys prepare their ammunition. “And how long does it take you two to fill up—“
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Neither me or my writing partner own One Tree Hill, for it is a creative product from Mark Schwann.

**A/N: **This story is written by a writing pair (NattyMcTasha and shygirly4eva) with co-efforts. Everything is planned out between both writers together.

This story is a result of us joking around saying the most random things (isn't like that always...well yes), after awhile we somehow got on to the subject of the _Brady Bunch_. So we are here to present to you a modern twist of the _Brady Bunch_. To prevent confusion we have a list of all the characters and their history. We hope you enjoy the story, and stay on lookout for the first chapter. Obviously, this story is AU.

**Keller Family**

**Elise (Jagielski) Keller:** Grew up in McIntosh, Alabama, population size: 244. At the age of 18, she was crowned Miss Washington County because of her musical talent, where she caught the eye of Jeremy Keller; from that day forward they experienced a whirlwind romance, which eventually lead to an impromptu wedding. Jeremy, being a city guy, tried to convince Elise to move to Raleigh, but her country girl nature wanted the small town life, this is how they found Tree Hill. After a year of marriage they had their first son Christopher Keller and Jacob Keller's birth closely followed his brother by 9 months. Even after the birth of her sons, Elise remained very passionate about music, often times at night, she could be heard singing "Sweet Home Alabama."

**Jeremy Keller:** Jeremy was a sports enthusiast, his greatest love was basketball. At the age of 21 Jeremy and his friends decided to take a road trip to the Deep South, where he met Elise Jagielski. After their speedy marriage, Jeremy took a job as a high school basketball coach in Raleigh; unfortunately after 6 years, he lost his job, which shifted his focus to alcohol.

**Jake Keller: **The younger of the two sons, Jake resembled his father in almost every aspect: dark hair, brown eyes and the love of basketball. At an early age, Jeremy signed up Jake and Chris for basketball, and from then on Jake became skilled at the game. His mild nature and passion for music were the only two characteristics that he inherited from his mother. As children, Chris and Jake were inseparable, so when it came time for Elise to enroll Chris in school she decided to enroll Jake early so he could be with his brother. Among their teachers, they became known as the little terrors because of all their mischievous pranks and adventures.

**Chris Keller:** As his mother always said Chris is a "free spirit" or as his teachers oh so (un) fondly refer to him as the "Wild Child." Don't be deceived by appearances, although Chris has his mother's mellow blue eyes, he throws all caution into the wind. Although Elise could not teach patience or humility to Chris, she did find a way to connect to him through music. Jeremy, unsuccessfully, tried to peak Chris' interest in basketball because within a year of playing Chris traded the hoops for a pitcher's mitt.

**Scott Family**

**Karen (Roe) Scott:** Karen was born and raised in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. During the summer after her high school graduation, Karen became pregnant, causing her parents to kick her out of their home. After being rejected by the father of the child, the three-month pregnant Karen moved into the city with the support of her best friend, Ellie Hart, who was already six months pregnant. Three months later, Ellie gave birth to her daughter, Peyton, and Karen followed only a week later with the premature birth of her twins, Brooke and Haley. In order to support their new families, they started up a small café, called "Karen's Café." Unfortunately, a tragic car accident took Ellie's life only two years later, leaving Peyton under Karen's care. In Ellie's honor, Karen changed the name of their business to "Hart's Café." A few years later, Karen gained a romantic interest in the frequent morning customer, Dan Scott, who already had three boys of his own: Nathan, Lucas, and Tim. After two years of dating, they decided to tie the knot, and from there on after, she became know as Mrs. Dan Scott.

**Dan Scott:** Since his childhood, Dan has had only one goal in life: to be successful. After graduating from Duke University, he married his high school sweetheart, Deb. Together, they had a son named Lucas, and ten months later had their second-born, Nathan. Two years later, Deb gave birth to their last son, Tim. However, their seemingly perfect marriage gradually fell apart, which led to a divorce five years after Tim was born. Dan got custody of the boys, while Deb sees them twice a year during holidays. Later on, his business was relocated to Charleston, next to the Hart's Café, where he became intrigued by the owner, Karen Roe. After relentlessly pursuing her for a date, Karen gave in. Dan proposed to her on Christmas Day, and married on their second anniversary.

**Peyton Hart:** Daughter of Ellie Hart. Her mother died when she was only two years old. She developed an interest in art after seeing her mother's paintings. Peyton inherited Ellie's old record collection, which she holds close to her heart. Although she loved Karen, Brooke, and Haley, there are times when she feels like an outsider. However, the girls make it a point to never make Peyton feel like she didn't belong in the family. Since she takes pride in being the oldest of the girls, she feels that it is her duty to protect Brooke and Haley.

**Brooke (Roe) Scott:** Brooke the oldest twin by two minutes, always found the joy in talking and socializing; even as a young child Brooke was the bubbly outgoing one, she never failed to run out of things to say. Brooke had a heightened awareness for fashion and had a knack to recognize and designer or label from a distance. At the age of six Brooke got involved in cheerleading, dragging Peyton with her. After her mother's marriage to Dan, Brooke found she could easily relate to Nathan, the only one who understood life as a middle child.

**Haley (Roe) Scott: **When Haley was born, the doctors feared because of her premature birth that she would not survive. During early childhood, Haley was under constant watch for any signs of a weak heart. This left Haley unable to participate in the same activities as Peyton and Brooke; as a result, Haley spent her spare time reading, studying and with music. In second grade, amazed by her intelligence and abilities, Haley's teacher moved her up to third grade, leaving Peyton and Brooke behind. Although her soft meek voice could be hard to hear over Brooke's shrieking laughter, Haley managed to captivate the attention of others when she sang.

**Nathan Scott:** Nathan is the middle child of the Scott boys, and only 11 months younger than his brother, Lucas. He has a strong bond with his father, which in effect, made him Dan's favorite. Nathan is one of the most popular boys in school and excels on the basketball court. At home, he finds himself interacting more so with his step-sisters than his actual brothers. While Lucas is absorbed in his own life, and Tim is absorbed in Lucas' life, Nathan turns to the girls when looking for advice or just someone to talk to.

**Lucas Scott:** Although Lucas is a year older, he ended up in the same grade as Nathan, due to late registration. His life revolves around one thing: sports. He is an all-around athlete with top spots on the football, basketball, and baseball teams. He prefers to hang out with his fellow classmates and jocks, instead of being around his brothers and step-sisters. Lucas has never been able to get along with any of his siblings, but enjoys the solitary life at home.

**Tim Scott:** You better recognize when the Tim is in the house. The youngest Scott brother aspires to be just like oldest brother, Lucas. However, his inappropriate and often bizarre comments only allow him to receive disdainful looks and cold shoulders from his peers and family members, including his idol, Lucas. Tim holds the "short stop" position on the baseball team and plays on the Junior Varsity basketball team. He also takes pride in his very important role as the football team's water boy.


	2. Better Open The Door

**Disclaimer: **Neither me or my writing partner own Lynard Skynard's "Sweet Home Alabama."

**Chapter 1: Better Open the Door**

The atmosphere of the room seemed to become tenser with every word that was spoken. Two young boys, six years of age, were crouched down on the stairwell with their heads poking through the gaps in the railing. They had heard their mother raise her voice, and as curiosity got the best of them, they sprung out of their beds to witness the commotion. However, they realized shortly thereafter that it was not something that wanted to see, not even in the slightest bit. They couldn't move from their spots though. The boys watched as their father got out of his recliner, spilling his glass of beer all over the floor. The youngest son put his small hands over his ears, trying to block out the words that he had heard all too often in the last few months.

"All—," Jeremy Keller began as he looked down at his mess, "—right. I'm leaving."

"Oh, no, you are not!" Elise yelled, pointing her finger into his chest.

"You… can't stop me," he slurred and attempted to point back at her, but his impaired judgment caused him to point just above her shoulder. Elise huffed at this.

"I can't believe you."

"Well, believe it, woman. Move out of the way!" he roared in response and pushed through her, grabbing his wallet.

The youngest boy now had his eyes squeezed shut, with his hands over his ears. He just wanted to be upstairs again, in his bed, or just anywhere away from here. At that moment, he felt someone grab his hand away from his ear.

"Come on, Jake," his brother whispered as he took a hold of his younger brother's hand and led him back up the stairs as quickly as possible. Jake followed Chris through the upstairs hallway, realizing that if they had stayed on the steps only a few minutes longer, their parents would have caught them out of bed. Chris opened the window at the end of the hallway, and they both climbed through and scaled down the side of the house, like they had done many times before. The dark of the night enveloped them, which made it more difficult to find their way around their usually recognizable backyard. As their eyes adjusted, Chris grabbed a hold of the rope ladder, attached to a tree furthest away from their house, and began to climb up. He soon found himself in the tree house that their grandfather had built for them only a few months ago. Chris turned around to help Jake into their second home, and closed the latch behind him.

Jake settled on top of his sleeping bag and brought his knees up to his chest. He watched as Chris moved his sleeping bag next to Jake's and sat down. They flinched as they heard the front door of their house slam shut.

"Where do you think you're going?" They could hear their mother yell from the front of the house.

"McKay's Pub!" Their drunken father yelled back, just before they heard the car door slam shut and squealing of tires.

"Chris…" Jake trailed off quietly, "… what's happening?"

"It's just a fight, like always," Chris answered. "He'll be back tomorrow."

The two brothers sat in silence and stared through the window of their tree house, looking at their home, which now seemed so far away from them. After a few minutes, Chris opened up his sleeping bag and slid inside of it to lie down, prompting Jake to do the same.

"Can we listen to the song?" Jake asked. Chris nodded and reached for their mother's old record player. He searched through their small collection for the correct vinyl and set it on the player. Shortly after, the faint sounds of their mother's favorite song filled their tree house.

_Big wheels keep on turning_

_Carry me home to see my kin_

_Singing songs about the southland_

_I miss Alabama once again_

_And I think it's a sin, yes_

_Well I heard Mister Young sing about her_

_Well, I heard ole Neil put her down_

_Well, I hope Neil Young will remember_

_A southern man don't need him around anyhow_

_Sweet home Alabama_

_Where the skies are so blue_

_Sweet home Alabama_

_Lord, I'm coming home to you_

Chris looked over at Jake, who was now sound asleep. He looked back over at their house and hummed along with the song that served as their comfort on nights like these. It was one of the things that reminded them of their mother, who was usually the parent they would go to when they had a problem or after skinning their knees on the concrete sidewalk. As the chorus of the song began for the second time, he felt his eyelids grow heavy. "_I'm coming home to you_," was the last thing he heard as his eyes closed and drifted off to sleep. However, he did not come home to them. Little did they know, that night was the last time they would ever see their father.

------

_Six years later…_

Jake rolled out of the sleeping bag that he had now grown out of. He could hear the sounds of a truck rolling to a stop near the road. He sat up and crawled over to the window, accidentally kicking the sleeping figure next to him in the side. His brother groaned and rolled over in his side.

"What are you doing?" Chris mumbled into his pillow.

"People are moving in next door," Jake observed as he looked out the window, noticing a large moving truck, with two cars parked behind it. Suddenly, they heard a loud squeal come from the direction of the road.

"Girl? There's a girl?" Chris questioned as he slid out of his sleeping bag and quickly crawled up to the window next to Jake. They watched as a small brunette girl jumped up and down in excitement in front of her new house. Another girl with long, wavy light brown hair came to the perky girl's side, with a taller, blonde girl in tow.

"Grab the slingshot," Chris said, as he opened up the window and positioned himself. Jake crawled to the other side of the tree house and rummaged through a box, looking for the all-too-familiar toy. Once he found it, he tossed it over to Chris and returned to his side.

"Um… Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think that this would work a little better if I had something to fling?"

"Oh, right." Jake went back to the other side, searching the tree house for ammunition. He threw magazines off to the side and began to go through a box of miscellaneous objects. Jake searched through the packages of slime, nerf guns, baseballs, and tennis balls until he finally found the perfect ammunition.

"Got it!" Jake said as he threw the package of ding-dongs to Chris. He opened the package and placed one of the soft pastries on the slingshot, preparing to aim at his first target. He smirked as he aimed the slingshot at the squealing brunette and let the ding-dong soar into the air, in the direction that he had been hoping for. They watched as the ding-dong came into contact with—a boy?

"Hm…" Chris sat there, puzzled, "I didn't seem him there."

The blonde-haired boy scraped the remains of the ding-dong off the side if his face and looked in the direction of Chris and Jake's tree house. Once they saw that the boy's gaze was slowly moving in their direction, they immediately ducked underneath the window, causing them to bump heads.

"Ow!" Jake exclaimed, rubbing his forehead.

"Shhh!" Chris put his hand over Jake's mouth and pulled him down to the floor. They laid there in silence, listening to the soft footsteps on the ground below them.

The blonde boy was now standing underneath the tree house, looking for a ladder, but had no such luck. "Hey! I know you're up there!"

"Yeah!" They heard a squeaky voice pipe up. Jake and Chris looked at each other in confusion, wondering whom the new voice belonged to.

"You haven't heard the last from me!" The blonde-haired boy yelled up at the tree house one last time before running back to the truck, where his parents had been calling him. Jake got up to peek out of the window and saw the retreating figures of the blonde boy and a smaller boy with brown hair. He grabbed the last ding-dong from the floor and threw it in the direction of the two boys. His face lit up when he saw that the pastry came in contact of the blonde boy's butt, causing Jake to go back into hiding as the boy spun around to glare at the tree house.

"Come on, Luke!" They heard yet another voice call out. Jake and Chris peeked out of the window and saw another boy calling them over to the moving truck.

"Nice aim," Chris said. Jake chuckled as they gave each other a high five.

"Man, there are six kids?"

"I guess so. They all seem to be around our age too," Chris observed.

"This will be fun," the two boys said in unison.

------

"Christopher and Jacob Keller! Time to get down from the tree house!"

The boys looked at each other with a knowing look that this could not be good. Their mother never called them by their full names unless she wanted something or they had been mischievous. Did she already see their prank on the new neighbors? They let down the rope ladder, which they had gratefully pulled up before they fell asleep last night, and they slowly trudged back to the house.

When they entered the house, Elise said, "Boys, as you are aware, we have new neighbors." In that moment, they looked up at their mother and they knew she saw their ding-dong stunt.

"I would like you two to put on your nice clothes," she instructed them, as she gently wiped a smudge off of Chris' face. He wrinkled up his little nose and the two brothers knew that their mother was making them pay the consequence for their actions.

"Now, after you guys get all nicely dressed up, I want you to walk next door to greet our new neighbors. Here—," as she handed Jake a pie, "—please give this pie to the family as a welcoming present."

Chris snickered. "Did you see the family? They have six kids. It's almost like the _Brady Bunch_."

Elise glanced and softly added, "Be nice, they're new."

As Chris and Jake stepped out onto the grass after getting changed, they heard their mother shout: "And keep your clothes clean!"

The two boys stood outside scowling, they never liked anything that involved being nice; they'd rather pull pranks. As they slowly left their yard, Chris plucked three daisies from their mother's small garden near the front porch.

"What are you doing?" Jake asked.

"I saw three girls. I'm gonna make them all fall in love with me. And imagine the fun we'll have torturing them later," Chris grinned as he wiped his now dirty hands on his nice pants and continued walking down the sidewalk.

"Hey Chris, do you think Mom would notice if we just set the pie on their front porch and left? We could hide in the tree house the rest of the day."

"Nah, remember last time when we left the ice cream for Old Mrs. Jenkins out in front? Plus, I want to see our new targets."

"Fine, but you're pushing the doorbell."

"No, you are. I did it last time."

"Well, you're the oldest."

"So? That doesn't matter. You're the baby."

"Well you're 'charismatic.'"

Now they were standing on their new neighbor's porch in front of the door.

"Oh, using big words now? You got the pie. You ring it." Chris said as he nudged Jake. Jake pushed him back and said, "You do it."

"No, you."

The argument continued back and forth, until Chris shoved Jake forward, causing the pie to go flying through the air. As Jake regained his balance, they both looked up to find the door open, with the blonde boy glaring down at them. They shifted their gaze and found the pie splattered on his feet.

"I told you we should have just left it in front of the door... it's on the ground anyway now," Jake commented, causing the two brothers to laugh. And then the blonde boy's top blew.

"You—"

"I never knew that you liked food this much, Lucas," another blonde interrupted.

"A girl," Chris whispered to Jake, grinning.

"You're observant. I'm Peyton." The girl laughed, causing her golden curls to bounce. At that moment, they heard the sounds of laughter echoing through the hallway behind the two blonde siblings. Lucas and Peyton turned around to find Nathan and Brooke coming down the steps, laughing at some previous joke between the two. As they came down to the bottom landing, they paused and looked down at Lucas' feet, where the pie had fallen. Their laughter picked up once again and came over to the front door to join Lucas and Peyton. Jake looked over at Chris, who simply raised his eyebrows in delight.

"Haley?" Brooke looked behind Peyton. "What are you doing back there?" She questioned as she pulled on her other sister's arm and pulled her out from behind Peyton. She looked over at the two boys and attempted to squirm out of her twin sister's grasp, but wasn't successful.

"Three girls," Chris whispered to Jake once again in a hitched voice.

"No kidding, Einstein," Nathan commented from his position between a fuming Lucas and the perky Brooke.

"Where is everybody?" They heard a squeaky voice yell out. Jake and Chris looked over the shoulders of the group of kids in front of them and spotted a boy running down the hallway.

"Oh, there you guys are. The Tim is in the house and you better recognize," the boy stated as he pushed through his siblings. As Lucas shut his eyes shaking, the rest of them laughed at their youngest sibling. Jake nudged Chris as they turned to look at the boy with the familiar voice from earlier.

"Hey look, it's Squeaky," Jake whispered in his brother's ear, causing Chris' face to be taken over by a large grin. The young boy turned around and said, "No it's Tim, right Luke?"

Chris stepped forward, pushing past Lucas, and Jake followed. "Hey, Tim is it? Like in Tiny Tim?"

"Yep, it's Tim," the young boy said as he cluelessly shook his head.

All of a sudden the children heard a throat clearing. "Well children, who do we have here? Do any of you plan to introduce your new friends to your mother and I?"

The two brothers walked to the Scotts and Chris proudly stuck out his little hand. With a giant grin, he said, "We're the Kellers, sir. I'm Chris and this is my brother, Jake." He pointed to his brother, who then stuck out his hand.

"We live next door. Our mother asked us to greet you," Jake added as he shook Karen's hand.

"Well, you two boys have firm grips like real men." Karen's face shifted to the door and her eyes slowly lowered to the floor. "Oh dear, what happened here?"

"Sorry, ma'am, my brother and I brought a pie for your family and we kind of had a little spill… when the door was answered," Jake explained softly. Karen looked at the two boys who displayed such innocent faces and then noticed the little flowers in Chris' hand.

"May I ask who those daisies are for?"

Chris looked back in his hand as another smile engulfed him. He spun around and walked up to the brunette. "This one is for you." In that moment the brunette squeeled and placed a small peck on Chris' cheek.

Then, he walked over to the one with blonde curls and smirked. "This one's for you Goldilocks, enjoy." Before Chris walked passed, Peyton whispered, "Nice aim earlier."

"Of course," as he looked over at his brother, "he got the butt."

With the one flower left in his small hand, Chris took one step behind the blonde toward 'Haley,' as her sister called her. With a giant smile and a wink, he said, "Hey beautiful, the last one is for you."

Chris could hear his brother laugh as the poor girl blushed profusely and stammered, "Th—thanks," as she glanced to the floor.

"Well, we have some unpacking to get back to," Dan said, as he walked back down the hall and disappeared into a room.

"You kids have fun," Karen added as she turned to follow her husband.

Lucas looked back down at his brand new shoes, which were now ruined. He huffed and mumbled, "I need to get this pie off of my shoes," before pushing through Jake and Chris. Tim immediately snapped to it and followed Lucas out through the back door of the house.

"Do you guys want to come hang out back? We have some cool squirt guns… unless ding-dongs are always your toy of choice," Nathan offered from behind Chris, who turned around the smiled.

"I guess the Kellers can stay for a bit."


	3. Nobody Dances Anymore

Chapter 2: Nobody Dances Anymore

**Chapter 2: Nobody Dances Anymore**

_Two years later…_

"All right, kids. Have fun!" the old lady yelled enthusiastically as she pulled on the rusted lever, opening the folding door of the school bus. The kids slowly rose out of their seats, mumbling incoherent goodbyes, and formed a line, slowly dragging their feet towards the door. As the last of the kids filed out, the bus driver came across a familiar face and chuckled. "You want your hackey sack back?"

"You bet, Deloris" Chris said with a wink.

"Well, you better keep this hackey sack out of my sight next time."

"Yes'm," he replied as he hopped down the steps.

"You'd think she'd learn by now that you never hide it," Chris heard Nathan say as he joined the group on the sidewalk.

"What can I say? Keller's got the charm."

"Yeah, I know. Jake is so charming," replied Brooke. At that very moment Jake winked, causing laughter to erupt from the cheery brunette.

Oozing with sarcasm Peyton spoke up loudly, "Now that we've established Jake is the charmer, we need to get to class. I mean look at Lucas, he's already running to his friends. He must be so ashamed at all of your behavior," she glanced up and saw Chris filling up a squirt gun with the help of Jake and his water bottle. Peyton rolled her eyes and proceeded to say, "I would be too."

The group watched as Lucas turned around at the mention of his name and shook his head. Just as he was about to return his attention to his group of friends, he heard Nathan ask, "Hey Lucas, where's your shadow?"

As if on cue, they all heard a shout from the familiar squeeky voice. "No fair, you can't trade cards like that. I'll get my big brother Lucas to tell you to give me my card back!"

"Tiny Tim has emerged. So Lukie, I think that's your cue to save the day," smirked Chris.

"Whatever, man," Lucas shrugged as him and his friends returned to talking. 

As the group started trudging forward passed piles of golden and crimson leaves, they heard a sigh. Brooke looked over at Haley and questioned, "What's wrong, Hales?"

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong. I just love Autumn, it's so magical," she replied breathlessly as a smile crossed her lips.

"I like autumn too," Chris began as he held his second squirt gun, which Jake was currently filling, "just think of pushing people in piles of leaves. But winter's by far my favorite. You get snow balls, snow banks, snow forts…"

"Is everything a weapon to you two?" Peyton interrupted as she watched the boys prepare their ammunition. "And how long does it take you two to fill up—"

All of a sudden, Peyton felt a large force push in to her, causing her to find herself laying on her back in a pile of leaves. However, she was having trouble breathing. She opened her eyes, finding two bodies on top of her.

"You know, you're right, Chris. Pushing people into leaves _is_ fun!" Brooke squealed as she and Nathan stood in front of them, laughing at the scene. As Chris and Jake had been preoccupied with their squirt guns, Nathan and Brooke had decided to push them into a nearby pile, not realizing that Peyton was on the other side of mischeivous duo. Once they realized that Peyton was underneath the two boys, they quickly walked away to what they considered a safe distance.

"You're on top of me. I kind of need to breathe," Peyton pointed out as the two boys began to realize that they had been out-played by their own friends. Suddenly, Jake quickly pushed himself up so that he was standing in front of the pile. "Sorry," he mumbled as his cheeks grew red with embarassment.

Unlike his brother, Chris' mouth took over, "Now, Goldilocks, you don't know how many girls would love to be under me." Peyton's discomfort only caused him to quirk his eyebrows up in a suggestive manner. Annoyed, she pushed Chris off of her and sat up in the pile of — wet leaves. She looked down at her shirt and realized that the water that was once inside their squirt guns, was now all over her. "Bastard! You got me wet!"

"Wow, horny much?" Chris asked as he cocked his head.

"Whatever," Peyton scoffed as she stood up, ignoring the boys' offers to help her up. She brushed the leaves off of her jeans and threw her messenger bag strap over her head. Once she gained composure, she walked over to the rest of the group, who were trying to hold back their laughs -- except for Haley, who offered to help remove any remaining leaves out of Peyton's hair.

Chris and Jake picked up their squirt guns and threw them into their bags before making their way over to the group, who were already making their way through the main doors. However, the boys were stopped short as they heard their names called out from behind them. They turned around to find a blonde-haired boy placing a lock on the front wheel of his bike. He pulled on the lock one last time to confirm its security before jogging up to the boys.

"Hey Mouth," Jake said as the boy finally caught up to them.

"Hey guys," Mouth replied as they continued walking towards the old building, which served as a middle school and high school for the small town of Tree Hill. The school was divided by a hallway and a cafeteria, which both middle schoolers and high schoolers shared. While high school students hated sharing their precious lunch hour with a group of pre-teens, most middle school students hoped that it was their chance to mingle with the older kids. Brooke, in her last year of middle school, was one of the few who were fortunate enough to be welcomed to the high school "section" of the cafeteria, since the two groups didn't necessarily merge. Nathan, who was already assured a spot on the Tree Hill basketball team next year, was also one of the lucky ones. Mouth, on the other hand, was always invited by his best friend, Jake, but usually declined, feeling out of place in the long table of jocks and cheerleaders.

"Ugh, I don't want to go—" Brooke began to whine, until she noticed a cute boy walking towards the hallway that led to the middle school, "—anywhere but where he's going." Without another word, she followed the boy down the hallway, while the rest of the group simply shook their heads, smiling.

"We better get going," Nathan said as he and Mouth began to walk in the same direction that Brooke had gone only seconds ago.

"Yeah, watch out for her, she belongs on a leash," Peyton called out.

"We're on top of it!" Mouth yelled back as they blended in with a rush of middle schoolers who had just arrived on a late bus.

"Well, I'm ready to test these babies out," Chris smirked as he brought his squirt gun out of his bag, cueing Jake to do the same.

"You know that those won't last five seconds in front of Coach Roberts, right?" Haley pointed out, as she and Peyton began to make their way towards the girls' locker room for the gym class that the four of them shared.

"Coach Roberts won't do anything, we have this great love/hate relationship going on," Chris replied.

"It's more hate than love," Peyton teased as they split off towards their own locker rooms.

--

"Miss Hart, could you lead roll call while I put these squirt guns away?" the gruff voice growled with a disapproving glance at the Kellers.

"Yes, Coach Roberts," Peyton promptly turned around reading the names off one by one. As she said "Haley Scott," the coach returned.

Softly, they heard a meek reply of "Present." Unfortunately, that wasn't satisfactory enough for Coach Roberts.

"Miss Scott, do you wished to be marked absent? I can't hear you. And if I can't hear you, you're not here."

With all her power, she replied loud and clear, "Present," and then a flush proceeded to take over her cheeks.

"Okay, today we're doing square dancing. There are 73 of you, with more girls than guys. So I expect almost every single girl to be partnered up, but one will remain on the bleachers. Miss Scott, I expect you to be part of the thirty-six girls that dances. It's guy's pick. Now go find your partner and form sets of fours. That equals 8 groups. Anyone need help with the math? Go ask an Algebra teacher, not me. Got that? Now go."

The class dispersed—the girls heading toward the walls waiting to be picked. Haley managed to find a corner to hide, since she didn't want to be near Peyton because she knew she would be picked by those rejected by Peyton. Haley so desperately wanted to sit on the bleachers and avoid the humiliation of dancing with a guy who didn't even want her to begin with.

Haley watched as Chris approached the girls. She could hear their "pick me, please" and "Chris, I'm your favorite right?" Most of the times, he replied with just a wink and a smirk. He knew he was wanted and he loved every single minute of it. The playboy attitude fit his love for attention. Haley saw the queen of her grade, Cassidy, being surrounded by admirers, hoping Chris would be one of them. She became confused as she saw Chris walk away from Cassidy and come in her direction. She looked to her sides expecting to see a cheerleader, but realized that she was all alone.

"Hey, Hales. What 'cha doin' hiding in the corner?" Chris asked curiously.

"I'm just—," before she could even finish, she was cut off by Chris.

"Why don't you ever square dance? It's not so bad," he said in an attempt to reassure her. Then, in a mocking voice similar to Coach Roberts, Chris smirked and said, "Miss Scott, please dance with Keller."

At that very moment, Coach Roberts turned around, "Keller, you don't want to mess with me today. You're already on a tight rope. Now, Miss Scott, since you and Keller are partnered up, so go join a set."

"Really, I didn't know? I should join the circus. I heard that they're in need of tight rope walkers," Chris said, referring to the instructor's threat, before tugging Haley's hand and skipping over to the opposite side of gym.

They found Peyton and her partner, Eric, in a set with only one other couple, so they joined the group. A few minutes later, Jake and Annabelle joined the set and it became complete. As they waited for the rest of the class to pair up, Jake and Chris grabbed each other's arms while they spun around singing, "Swing your partners round and round, doe to doe 'til you hit the ground!"

"Okay you rascals, the group I decided to be my spotlighted set for today is Keller's group over there in the corner. Jake and Chris seem to have a lot of enthusiasm that they want to share with you guys. I'm sure they'll be a model set," Coach Roberts yelled out over the murmurs of the settling students.

Chris began to strut towards the center of the gym, with Haley in tow. The rest of the pairs in their group dragged their feet, listening to the whispers of envious girls.

"Chris picked _her_?" one girl whispered.

"Who _is_ she?" her friend responded.

Ignoring the concerns of the girls, Chris stood next to Coach Roberts and smiled, "We'll make you proud, Coach. We'll dance like you did one hundred years ago." He then looked over at Haley to give her a reassuring wink, causing her to blush.

"Oh, Keller, congratulations. You and Miss Scott are now my spotlighted couple," the tall, overweight coach retaliated. Peyton, Jake, and the rest of their set all let out a sigh of relief and stepped back a few steps to watch the lucky dancing duo.

--

"What exactly is the point of physical education in a learning institution?" Haley mumbled before taking a sip of her water.

"Haley—" Jake sighed, after swallowing a bite of his sandwich.

"I mean, yes, I'm glad that schools want us to be healthy and active. But square dancing? When am I ever going to use that skill?" Haley asked no one in particular. "It won't help me with anything. It's not like I can go to a job interview and when they ask, 'what are your areas of expertise?'… I can say: 'I can square dance!'" She paused for a moment and stared down at her lunch tray. "Unless, of course, I was trying to become some sort of dance instructor. But, come on, it's me," Haley continued, pointing at herself.

Just as Jake was about to cut in, Haley began to elaborate further. "Oh! And it's not like we see any other adults square dancing. When was the last time you saw our parents start square dancing in the middle of the street?"

Catching the last few words for Haley's previous statement, Chris, who was sitting diagonal from them, joined the conversation. "Dancin' out on 7th street," he sang enthusiastically.

"Dancin' through the underground," Jake joined in on the Ryan Adam's classic.

"Dancin' little marionette," Chris continued, smirking at his dance partner. Chris and Peyton, who had just sat down across from Haley, stared at her expectantly. Haley began to shake her head, until she felt Jake's elbow nudge her lightly. She rolled her eyes and set her fork down. "Are you happy now?" she sang quietly.

Jake, Peyton, and Chris applauded Haley before going back to their original conversations. On the other side of Jake, Brooke was waving her hands around and having a one-sided conversation with Nathan and some of her followers from the Tree Hill middle school cheerleading squad.

"Mallory totally told me that I already have a spot on the JV cheerleading squad next year," Brooke said as she picked up her chocolate chip cookie and took a bite out of it.

"You call your cheerleading coach by her first name?" Nathan asked from his spot across from her.

"Well, yeah. Why not?" Brooke responded.

Nathan shrugged in response, and returned to his lunch, occasionally listening in on the conversation. As Brooke spoke in her typical animated way, her cookie waved around in the air, drawing Nathan's attention. Just beyond the cookie, was Jake, who's eyes followed it as it moved around only inches from his face. At the perfect moment, Jake snatched the freshly baked cookie from the perky girl and bit into it.

"Hey!" Brooke squealed, reaching for her cookie.

"Revenge is sweet," Jake said with a mouth full of the crisp cookie. After he swallowed, he then licked his lips and added, "literally."


End file.
